AncilChapter 31: HE Coming
Maggie remained quiet at the table. Our eyes all fixed on her, we awaited her reaction to the huge mess.
“We having crab and dumpling, crab callaloo and macaroni pie for lunch. If you have any request you could make them now,” Maggie said as if the mess didn’t faze her.
None of us responded we just kept looking at her.
“Well then. I’ll start cooking,” Maggie said. She then started to pick up the broken glasses on the floor.
“Need any help?” Megan asked.
“No, no. I will handle this,” she smiled.
Megan got up, crouched down, tucked her hair behind her ears and started picking some of the pieces of glass that were on the floor. Overwhelmed with guilt, we all decided to join Megan and Maggie in cleaning up the mess.
“Where did that scream come from?” I asked Maggie.
“It most likely come from Mama Glow. That wretched snake always falling for Anansi tricks. And every time she find out that she get tricked she does scream down the place. You would think that she’d learn to not trust Anansi by now.”
“You think she’ll come for him?” Megan asked.
“Anansi always tricking she and she eh come for him yet. So I highly doubt it,” Maggie answered. “It’s like every time she turn into a snake she does get stupid. All she really have is beauty. The brains lacking.”
We laughed a little.
“That wasn’t a regular Mama Glow scream though,” Anansi rushed back into the room and said with a hint of panic in his voice. “That scream was louder. That was a scream of pain.”
“Somebody attack she?” Maggie asked.
“I fear so,” Anansi said. “I fear so. I going back to the river and check.”
“What if what get she still out there. It could get you too,” Maggie said, worried.
“I have to know what happen to Mama Glow.”
“We could come with you,” I suggested. “We have guns?”
“For Maggie’s peace of mind, I would allow two of allyuh to come with me,” Anansi pointed at Cornell and I then said. “Bring your guns.”
Anansi asked Bookman to look after the house while he was gone. Bookman agreed then we went out into the forest.
The sun was piercing but only a small percentage of the heat actually reached us since the trees formed a huge canopy blocking out the sun like an umbrella. The Caura area was considered a rainforest in most parts of the world. It wasn’t always so though. Years of global warming, ozone depletion and polar shifts caused the change. The leaves and forest floor were drenched even though I couldn’t remember it raining.
I looked up and besides the fact that I couldn’t see the sky, droplets fell onto my face from the tree branches above. There were monkeys moving around on the trees shaking the water off. The movements in the trees scared me a little but only for a moment.
Cornell had his shotgun locked and loaded. He was incredibly attentive, looking out for any little movement that posed a threat as he soldiered forward. Cornell wasn’t only a minister but also an ex-soldier. He was once the Army general but left his position to rally for Minister of National security. He was a great soldier but he obviously became consumed by the politics. It’s still shocking to me that he decided to help us out. He was the only minister to help but I was convinced that the First Lady, Sam Jack, had something to do with it. I had assumed that he had liked her but I second guessed my assumption when he had left Sam back in Arima without as much as a backward glance.
“You think Sam’s okay?” I asked Cornell.
“There’s a wounded snake in the bushes and you’re asking about Sam?” Cornell laughed.
“Well I know she was your good friend. It’s probably killing you to know that she could be dead.”
“She did it to save all of our asses. If she didn’t stay back they would have found us and all of us would have died. The way I see it, that’s the best thing she ever did.”
“I guess so,” I said.
“You don’t need to worry about Sam. She’s in a better place. She had her moments but overall she is a good person. It’s because of her that all of us are alive right now. Believe it,” Cornell said.
“Samantha Jack was a traitor,” Anansi said, overhearing our conversation. “She had a big part to play in all this bacchanal. You feel she innocent? She was the Midnight Robber’s whore and I sure she still is.”
